As designers and developers, we don’t always have access to research to about our end users, or the opportunity to learn about them. This can leave us building products based on our managers personal opinion, or client specifications, and never really knowing how we can serve our users better. But the good news is there are many opportunities for user research that most designers and developers just aren’t aware of. They are cheap, easy to implement, and can used straight away on almost any project. Lily will talk you through 3 methods of no excuse user research that you can use immediately on the websites, products, apps and services you work on every day.

1. @lily_dart lilydart.com
Lily Dart
Freelance user experience design & research
No excuses
user research

2. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Most of us are plagued by
opinion-driven design

3. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Design and development
based on subjective
opinion, not objective data

4. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
When we can’t agree, it’s
the highest paid opinion
who gets to break the tie

5. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Forced to prioritise features based on internal
wants and pressures
Make design and language decisions based
on project-leader preferences
Become focused on delivery speed and
uptime over usability and product fit

6. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Forced to prioritise features based on internal
wants and pressures
Make design and language decisions based
on project-leader preferences
Become focused on delivery speed and
uptime over usability and product fit

7. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Forced to prioritise features based on internal
wants and pressures
Make design and language decisions based
on project-leader preferences
Become focused on delivery speed and
uptime over usability and product fit

8. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Forced to prioritise features based on internal
wants and pressures
Make design and language decisions based
on project-leader preferences
Become focused on delivery speed and
uptime over usability and product fit

9. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
For most of us,
this sucks

10. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
To counter to subjective
opinions, we need
objective data

11. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
We just don’t have the time,
money or people to do
research.”
“
Excuse

12. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
We already have a site that
people use. Why do I need to
know more about those people?”
“
Excuse

13. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
We already know what our
users want.”“
Excuse

14. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
We don’t know enough
about the behaviour or
needs of our users

15. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
User research doesn’t have
to be time consuming,
expensive or difficult

16. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
User research doesn’t have
to be time consuming,
expensive or difficult

17. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Method
Usability feedback through
complaints and bug reports
Method

18. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Bug reports, where no
functional bug can be
identified, are a potential
source of user feedback.

19. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
The problem does not
exist between chair and
keyboard.

20. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
If you’ve handled ‘PEBCAK’
reports, then you’ve been
handling usability feedback.

21. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Complaints are feedback
borne of frustration and
dissatisfaction. They often
reveal the best insights.

22. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify potential usability issues in our
interfaces
Identify mis-matches in product features and
user expectation
Reduce the amount of non-functional bug
reports and complaints we receive

23. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify potential usability issues in our
interfaces
Identify mis-matches in product features and
user expectation
Reduce the amount of non-functional bug
reports and complaints we receive

24. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify potential usability issues in our
interfaces
Identify mis-matches in product features and
user expectation
Reduce the amount of non-functional bug
reports and complaints we receive

25. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Record reports in a system that allows
tagging
Tag reports with appropriate labels; e.g.
“usability” and “login”
Check back regularly until you have enough
for analysis

26. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Record reports in a system that allows
tagging
Tag reports with appropriate labels; e.g.
“usability” and “login”
Check back regularly until you have enough
for analysis

27. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Record reports in a system that allows
tagging
Tag reports with appropriate labels; e.g.
“usability” and “login”
Check back regularly until you have enough
for analysis

28. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
I’ve just tried to make
a payment on my
credit card but the
debt is still showing
the same amount.”
“
Two days ago I paid
£300 off my credit
card, and the
payment still hasn’t
shown up. Has the
payment bounced?”
I tried to pay off my
credit card, the
money has left my
account, but isn’t
showing up on my
statement.”
“ “
#usability #card-statement #usability #card-statement #usability #card-statement

29. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
I have just moved
house and am trying
to update my address,
but the button
won’t work.”
“
Recently I changed
my surname after
getting married, but
can’t seem to make
the change on your
system.”
I want to update
my profile photo,
but the page won’t
save it.”
“ “
#usability #profile #usability #profile #usability #profile

30. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
I have just moved
house and am trying
to update my address,
but the button
won’t work.”
“
Recently I changed
my surname after
getting married, but
can’t seem to make
the change on your
system.”
I want to update
my profile photo,
but the page won’t
save it.”
“ “
#usability #profile #usability #profile #usability #profile

31. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
An individual bug report or complaint isn’t
enough to give us certainty of an issue
Not everyone has the time or motivation to
provide feedback or log bugs
Consider the size of your user base, ease of
reporting and the severity of the issue

32. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
An individual bug report or complaint isn’t
enough to give us certainty of an issue
Not everyone has the time or motivation to
provide feedback or log bugs
Consider the size of your user base, ease of
reporting and the severity of the issue

33. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
An individual bug report or complaint isn’t
enough to give us certainty of an issue
Not everyone has the time or motivation to
provide feedback or log bugs
Consider the size of your user base, ease of
reporting and the severity of the issue

34. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
An individual bug report or complaint isn’t
enough to give us certainty of an issue
Not everyone has the time or motivation to
provide feedback or log bugs
Consider the size of your user base, ease of
reporting and the severity of the issue

35. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Users who report issues in
anger are unintentionally
doing you a favour.

36. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues
Identify product misunderstandings
Reduce complaints and bug reports
Complaint and bug report analysis can help you to:

37. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues
Identify product misunderstandings
Reduce complaints and bug reports
Complaint and bug report analysis can help you to:

38. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues
Identify product misunderstandings
Reduce complaints and bug reports
Complaint and bug report analysis can help you to:

39. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Complaint and bug report analysis
Dev time
None
Analysis time
30 mins +

40. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Method
User feedback through
transaction audits
Method

41. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
A transaction audit allows us
to capture feedback from
users at the point of success,
or failure.

42. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits are usually
single questions or short
forms that we ask users to fill
in at the end of their journey.

43. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research

44. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research

45. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits give us on the spot
feedback about user interactions
They can tell us why a user was unsatisfied,
and give insight into improving our sites
They give users a simple route to feedback
when they may not otherwise be motivated

46. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits give us on the spot
feedback about user interactions
They can tell us why a user was unsatisfied,
and give insight into improving our sites
They give users a simple route to feedback
when they may not otherwise be motivated

47. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits give us on the spot
feedback about user interactions
They can tell us why a user was unsatisfied,
and give insight into improving our sites
They give users a simple route to feedback
when they may not otherwise be motivated

48. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
testtransaction.com
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No

49. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Thanks for your feedback.
testtransaction.com
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No

50. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Thanks for your feedback.
testtransaction.com
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No
If the user
answers yes,
submit the form.

51. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
testtransaction.com
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No

52. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No
What were you looking for?
Send
testtransaction.com

53. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Did you find what you were looking for?
Yes No
What were you looking for?
Send
testtransaction.com
If the user
answers no,
submit the
response
immediately.
The text field
should be
optional. If a
user fills it out,
update their
response.

54. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Thanks for your feedback.
testtransaction.com
We use all of the feedback we receive to improve the site.

55. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
How was your shopping experience today?
We’re sorry. What could we have improved?
Send
testtransaction.com

56. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback

57. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback

58. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback

59. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback

60. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Keep questions as simple and straightforward
as possible to maximise responses
If a user completes a transaction regularly,
don’t keep asking them
Reserve audits for key user journeys, or keep
them discrete for content feedback

61. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Audits can be created from scratch, or can be
embedded using an external survey tool
If you’re using a survey tool, the only additional
feature you’ll need is ‘branching’
Some tools also allow you to add a hidden field
to pass the URL of the page the form is on

62. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Audits can be created from scratch, or can be
embedded using an external survey tool
If you’re using a survey tool, the only additional
feature you’ll need is ‘branching’
Some tools also allow you to add a hidden field
to pass the URL of the page the form is on

63. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Audits can be created from scratch, or can be
embedded using an external survey tool
If you’re using a survey tool, the only additional
feature you’ll need is ‘branching’
Some tools also allow you to add a hidden field
to pass the URL of the page the form is on

64. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
So that transactions audits do
not become intrusive to users,
they must be optional.

65. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits are
not surveys.

66. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits are
not surveys.

67. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
They are satisfaction gauges,
or red flags for
underperforming transactions.

68. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits can help you to:
Gather feedback at the point of success or failure
Identify unsatisfactory transactions
Receive continuous user feedback

69. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Gather feedback at the point of success or failure
Identify unsatisfactory transactions
Receive continuous user feedback
Transaction audits can help you to:

70. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Gather feedback at the point of success or failure
Identify unsatisfactory transactions
Receive continuous user feedback
Transaction audits can help you to:

71. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Transaction audits
Dev time
30 mins +
Analysis time
1 hr +

72. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Method
Content and language
analysis through search logs
Method

73. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Internal search logs are a
rich, often untapped, source
of insights about user
behaviour and needs.

74. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search log analysis
reveals the value of
“search returned no results”

75. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search logs can help us to identify content
missing from our site that users want or expect
They can reveal when we’re using different
language or categorisation than our users
They can give us an indication of how easy our
popular content is to find

76. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search logs can help us to identify content
missing from our site that users want or expect
They can reveal when we’re using different
language or categorisation than our users
They can give us an indication of how easy our
popular content is to find

77. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search logs can help us to identify content
missing from our site that users want or expect
They can reveal when we’re using different
language or categorisation than our users
They can give us an indication of how easy our
popular content is to find

78. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Top search queries Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
On aliens4eva.com; a site
about alien races in
Science Fiction.

79. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results

80. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results

81. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results

82. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results

83. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results

84. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
1. User language and
categorisation doesn’t
align with site content

85. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results

86. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
2. Content that users are
searching for does not
exist on the site

87. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results

88. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Top search queries
which don’t return
results
3. Misspelling means
some users can’t find
pages they are looking for

89. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Top search queries
in the top 20 most
visited pages
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

90. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Top search queries
in the top 20 most
visited pages
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

91. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Losing traffic for popular content to other sites
in natural search
Some popular pages are harder to discover
through the site navigation
User interface promotes some content,
increasing the amount of page views

92. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Losing traffic for popular content to other sites
in natural search
Some popular pages are harder to discover
through the site navigation
User interface promotes some content,
increasing the amount of page views

93. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Losing traffic for popular content to other sites
in natural search
Some popular pages are harder to discover
through the site navigation
User interface promotes some content,
increasing the amount of page views

94. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Top search queries
in the top 20 most
visited pages
Klingons
Daleks
The Doctor
Vulcans
A.I.
Borg
Cardassian
Ferengi
Hirogen
Romulan
Delvian
Time Lords
Jedi
Wookie
Bajoran
Robots
Kardashian
Peacekeepers
Weeping Angels
Ood
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
4. Navigational routes to
some popular content
may be convoluted

95. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search query
analysis results
User language and categorisation
doesn’t align with site content
Content that users are searching for
does not exist on the site
Misspelling means some users can’t
find pages they are looking for
Navigational routes to some popular
content may be convoluted
1
2
3
4

96. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Consider the timeframe for analysis; do external
factors affect your traffic and search terms?
Consider the size of your user base when
deciding on depth of analysis
Test out top search terms in your search engine;
where do they appear in the list of results?

97. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Consider the timeframe for analysis; do external
factors affect your traffic and search terms?
Consider the size of your user base when
deciding on depth of analysis
Test out top search terms in your search engine;
where do they appear in the list of results?

98. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Consider the timeframe for analysis; do external
factors affect your traffic and search terms?
Consider the size of your user base when
deciding on depth of analysis
Test out top search terms in your search engine;
where do they appear in the list of results?

99. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search log analysis can help you to:
Identify missing or difficult to find content
Identify non-user friendly language or categorisation
Reveal poor information architecture

100. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search log analysis can help you to:
Identify missing or difficult to find content
Identify non-user friendly language or categorisation
Reveal poor information architecture

101. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search log analysis can help you to:
Identify missing or difficult to find content
Identify non-user friendly language or categorisation
Reveal poor information architecture

102. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Search log analysis
Dev time
10 mins +
Analysis time
1 hr +

103. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues and reduce usability
related bug reports and complaints
Gather continuous feedback on transaction
success and user satisfaction
Improve poor information architecture by
aligning it to user language and categorisation

104. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues and reduce usability
related bug reports and complaints
Gather continuous feedback on transaction
success and user satisfaction
Improve poor information architecture by
aligning it to user language and categorisation

105. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues and reduce usability
related bug reports and complaints
Gather continuous feedback on transaction
success and user satisfaction
Improve poor information architecture by
aligning it to user language and categorisation

106. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Identify usability issues and reduce usability
related bug reports and complaints
Gather continuous feedback on transaction
success and user satisfaction
Improve poor information architecture by
aligning it to user language and categorisation

107. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Using all of these methods on
a project would likely take
less than 8 hours a month.

108. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Reduced uncertainty
Better outcomes
Less conflict

109. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Reduced uncertainty
Better outcomes
Less conflict

110. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Reduced uncertainty
Better outcomes
Less conflict

111. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
Reduced uncertainty
Better outcomes
Less conflict

112. @lily_dart lilydart.com
No excuses user research
User research is the cure
for opinion-driven design.

113. @lily_dart lilydart.com
Lily Dart
Freelance user experience design
& user research
Any questions?